Nahapiet & Ghoshal, Blackler, and Cowan, David & Foray

Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage

Janine Nahapiet and Sumantra Ghoshal

The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 242-266 

 

This article looks at how social capital can hep create new intellectual capital for organizations. From my understanding of their explanation, social capital is the relationships, knowledge, and information that is shared and utilized by a group of people within an interactive setting such as a community or business. This article looks at how organizations are at an advantage for creating and sharing this social capital which could in turn create new intellectual capital. The article was interesting but I found it rather dull. I was intrigued by the idea of social capital though as this was the first time I had ever really come into contact with that term. Initially I thought they were in some way going to discuss finance, but instead the capital they were referring to exists between individuals or a group of individuals hat comes from sharing the same experiences and environment. 

 

Knowledge, Knowledge Work and Organizations: An Overview and Interpretation

Frank Blackler   Organization Studies  1995 16: 1021

 

This was a fairly long article that went into quite a bit of detail, but it brought up some interesting thoughts. The author first looks at how knowledge and its value is currently viewed and utilized within an organization. From here is offers a different approach to the way knowledge should be handled. As opposed to simply looking at what knowledge is already their Blackler believes that focus should instead be placed upon the cultural influences and the things that help create the knowledge. To him the process of how the knowledge comes into being is just as valuable as the knowledge itself.

 

 

 

Cowan, R., David, P., & Foray, D. (2000). The explicit economics of knowledge codification and tacitness. Industrial & Corporate Change, 9(2), 211. 

 

This article looks at how tacit and codified knowledge are used and understood in economics. The authors make the point that the two types are at times confused in regards to their actual meaning. This article went on and on and I really have no interest in economics so it was hard for me to sit through. Not to end on a bad note though I will say that the authors were very clear in their definitions ad descriptions of tacit ad codified knowledge respectively.

 

 

Trkman & Desouza, Lam & Chua and Massingham

Knowledge risks in organizational networks: An exploratory framework The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 21, No. 1. (March 2012), pp. 1-17,

by Peter Trkman, Kevin C. Desouza..

 

This article looks at how knowledge is shared between organizations, but instead of looking at the benefits that can result from this type of collaboration, it focuses on the risks that can present themselves if the knowledge sharing is not done carefully. The article shows that there can be many disadvantag3es that can occur as well with knowledge sharing between organizations. A company could potentially lose it competitive advantage or its intellectual property may suffer because due to poor usage of it by another organization. I actually really enjoyed this article and found myself agreeing with many of the things that were being presented. I think that it is okay form companied to help each other to an extent but not all knowledge that exists within an organization needs to be shared with other organizations.

 

 

Knowledge risk management: a framework Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 14, No. 3. (2010), pp. 464-485,

by Peter Massingham

 

This article looks at knowledge risk management. I enjoyed this article because it keeps the responsibility of knowing what is going on within an organization on those who are running it. The article acknowledges that many times in the past corporate leaders have denied and deflected the blame when a serious situation arises. This article focuses on way in which knowledge can be accumulated and shared to help prevent or deal with high risk situations. The articles findings suggest that current knowledge risk management strategies are ineffective and implies that other methods need to be developed.

 

Knowledge outsourcing: an alternative strategy for knowledge management Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 13, No. 3. (2009), pp. 28-43,

by Wing Lam, Alton Y. K. Chua

 

This article looks at "knowledge outsourcing as an alternative strategy for knowledge management." This basically means from my own understanding that as opposed to knowledge being extracted from inside an organization and outside source is contracted to create new "knowledge assets." I am not sure how much I agree with it but it is an interesting idea. I think it would be foolish to overlook the valuable knowledge that already exists within an organization, but I can understand the benefits of also utilizing an outside source for new knowledge. I personally would not choose one over the other but rather combine both options in a way that was most useful to my organization.

Wang & Lu, McLure & Faraj and Schultze

A Confessional Account of an Ethnography about Knowledge Work

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 1. (March 2000), pp. 3-41

by Ulrike Schultze

 

Read this article a couple times through and still do not fully understand what it is about. I know that the author looked at how information is produced rather than how it is used. He looks at three different information professionals and the informing practices that they relied upon. I guess this is a good study but I was bored out of my mind both times I read it.

 

 

 

Why Should I Share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1. (March 2005), pp. 35-57

by Molly McLure and Samer Faraj

 

This article looks at why people contribute their own knowledge to online networks when there is no apparent benefit to them. It is surmised that people do it to enhance their own professional reputation or when they are already "structurally embedded" in the network. I found the article interesting but from my own life experiences people like to know things, and when they do they feel a need to share it with others. There is a personal satisfaction that comes with showing others how much you know. I enjoyed the article but I had already come to the conclusion that it is just human nature to have a desire to appear as if you are well versed in any particular field. And in many instances the person feels some level of superiority for knowing something that someone else doesn't.

 

 

 

Knowledge transfer in response to organizational crises: An exploratory study Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 37, No. 5. (May 2010), pp. 3934-3942,

by Wei-Tsong Wang, Yu-Cheng Lu

 

To begin with I really liked this article because it involved motorcycles. I have a motorcycle and love them, so I was interested before I had even finished reading the abstract. The article itself looked at how a crisis situation was handled during a product recall for a motorcycle manufacturer. The authors evaluated the effectiveness and influence of knowledge transfer and knowledge transfer channels during the incident. The conclusion was that there were a variety of different channels that were used and there was an overall positive influence on the performance of the organization while handling the crisis because of the knowledge transfers that were taking place.

Hemsley & Mason, Chakarabarti, and Lucas

Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce Volume 23, Issue 1-2, 2013Special Issue: Knowledge Management and Social Media: The Challenges and Benefits

 This article looks at how viral events on social media platforms affects knowmledge management systems. It begins with a story of a band that had a guitar broken during the handling of their luggage by United Airlines. In the ensuing aftermath the band posted a YouTube video about the incident and it quickly became a viral event. The main jist ofg the article was how organization need to be aware of how social media can affect knowledge management and knowledge management systems. The article also looks at how viral events can be used as the "stimulus in forming interest networks." They go on to say that organizations that adhere to the older bureaucratic method of controlling knowledge will be at a disadvantage.

The impact of trust and reputation on the transfer of best practices Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 9, No. 4. (April 2005), pp. 87-101, doi:10.1108/13673270510610350 by Leyland M. Lucas

This article examines how knowledge is transferred within an organization and why problems exist in the transferring process. The author examine one organization and looks at its knowledge transferring process. The author claims that for knowledge transferr to happen successfully their has to be an understanding by those who use it on how the process works, what knowledge is available and the acceptance of failure as a possibility in the process of helping themselves and others. There also has to be a level of cooperation between those who use it along with the ability to change the way the normally do things tho ensure that the knowledge transfer process will continue to work and be effective. The author concludes that there must be cooperation and trust between the users if knowledge transfer is to happe successfully. 

Bounded awareness and tacit knowledge: revisiting Challenger disaster Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 16, No. 6. (2012), pp. 934-949, doi:10.1108/13673271211276209 by Ajith Kumar, Amaresh Chakrabarti

This article primarily focuses on 'bounded awareness', which is described by the authors as:  "bounded awareness essentially manifests as ‘‘focusing failures’’ that result from the misalignment between information ideally needed for a good decision and the information actually included in the decision-making process. Useful information – though readily available – remains out of focus of the decision maker." The authors follow this overview of 'bounded awareness' by looking at what factors make a manager's awareness bounded. The study done by the authors attempts to establish "... a link between trust, reputation, and knowledge transfer." The author's conclude that it is individual tacit knowledge that can create bounds on the knowledge they posses. The authors urge organizations to be aware of what tacit knowledge they posses along with how that very knowledge can negatively effect their ability to recognize new and different knowledge when it is required.

 

 

 

 

Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations
and Research Issues): Maryam Alavi and Dorothy E. LeidnerSource: MIS Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Mar., 2001), pp. 107-136

This article was very in depth and provided review for much literature done on KM and KMS. While the information provided in the article was good, and the reader was presented with a good deal of background information on knowledge management and knowledge management in the organization, I still found myself loosing interest and concentration. The article itself is rather lengthy and I find it hard sometimes to maintain a focus when reading these long research articles. I had to re-read many sections but overall this may be the most comprehensive knowledge management article I have read so far.

A Confessional Account of an Ethnography about Knowledge Work

Ulrike Schultze

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Mar., 2000), pp. 3-41 

 

I like this article because it focused on what professionals do as opposed to just what they know. I enjoyed this view point because it really focuses in on the actions of tacit knowledge. By focusing on the work practices of professionals a glimpse of how their knowledge is put to use can be obtained. How these professionals go about their day-to-day performance is a great indicator of what they know and how they use it. While I do not believe that all knowledge can be transmitted or shared, paying closer attention to how people operate and the actions they take can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of their individual knowledge.

 

 

Yuan, Y. C., Zhao, X., Liao, Q. and Chi, C. (2013), The use of different information and communication technologies to support knowledge sharing in organizations: From e-mail to micro-blogging. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci., 64: 1659–1670.

I enjoyed this article quite a bit. The authors conducted 21 interviews with employees from a multinational corporation about media technologies and how they are applicable to knowledge management. What I found most interesting was their acknowledgment that while I CT's are valuable assets, without the proper planning and implementation the tools are never able to reach their full potential. My one gripe with this article in spite of the fact that I enjoyed it, was that I did not feel like I was necessarily being presented with much new information. I did find the interviews to be very intriguing though and how others perceived these KM tools and how to best use them.

 

 

Goggins, Wasko and Chua

Context Matters: The Experience of Physical, Informational, and Cultural Distance in a Rural IT Firm 

The Information Society, Vol. 29, No. 2. (27 February 2013), pp. 113-127 

Sean P. Goggins, Christopher Mascaro

This article looks at how factors such as informational, cultural and distance can effect the business practices and operating procedures of a rural based IT firm. I found this article and study to be very interesting and practical as well. With this class being my first experience and in depth look and knowledge management I constantly found myself being presented with new, exciting information. In regards to this paper, I enjoyed it because of how it focuses on and looks at how distance and other factors attributed to it effects and can in some cases dictate how information is shared and transmitted. I know that I personally would not have thought about these things right off the bat, and would not have noticed how these things can effect an organization until problems arose. A study like this can greatly help future business be able to best utilize informatio sharing that cover physical, international and cultural distance to improve how the operate and share knowledge. 

  Why Should I share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice 

MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1. (2005), pp. 35-57 

Molly McLure Wasko and Samer Faraj

While I enjoyed this article I did not find that I was being presented with new and interesting information. I understand the value of the study, and it is important for organizations to understand why their employees and constituencies use and share knowledge but I did not feel that this particular study made any advances with the subject in question. The electronic network they discuss made me immediately think of a chat room or forum which have been around and used by a large number of people for many years now. I also did n ot feel that why the employees share information to be that informative. I thought that it went without saying that the majority of people who would use this type of resource would do so only if they thought that it would in some way benefit them.

A tale of two hurricanes: Comparing Katrina and Rita through a knowledge management perspective

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 58, No. 10. (1 August 2007), pp. 1518-1528, 

Alton Y. K. Chua

This has been one of my favorite articles that I have read so far. For some reason I find myself to be vastly interested in how KM practices work during a crisis. I find all of the reasons that pop up dealing with why people still do not share information at these times to be very intriguing and what these decisions can tell us about the human character and how we think. One of my favorite aspects of the article was how the author compared knowledge management efforts during two different major natural crises.

Ibrahim, Chaleta and Brown

Ibrahim, N. H., & Allen, D. (2012). Information sharing and trust during major incidents: Findings from the oil industry. Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology, 63(10), 1916-1928

I enjoyed this article and thought that it made some good observations and points. Information management and sharing is vital to the success of any business but even more so when your business is oil drilling and other large scale operations. In this pursuits when something bad happens it is really bad. The potential of disaster is high when something goes wrong and the ability to communicate and share knowledge and information is paramount to the success of damage control. In terms of oil rigs offshore it is highly important that information is shared and that their is a trust between those who are sharing it. More research on this topic most certainly needs to be done in order to develop new strategies and acquire new knowledge to help prevent the worse from happening.

Chalmeta, R., & Grangel, R. (2008). Methodology for the implementation of knowledge management systems. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(5), 742-755

I found the article to be a bit boring but it made some good points and outlined a process to successfully develop and implement a KMS in any organization or business. The outline was very clear and I found that it made all kinds of sense. There are only five phases; identification, extraction, representation, processing and utilization. All five phases are exactly what they sound like: identify the knowledge needed, extract it,  how the knowledge is represented, etc... Each phase is vital to the next and without one you do not have a whole. In writing it is a very simple process but I am sure there are some situations in which things could become a little more difficult.

Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (1991). Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation. Organization Science, 2(1), 40-57.

Really good article. Basically looks at the way organizations train their employees and outline how they should work and then compares that to the way employees actually learn and work. Loved the point he made about how companies pay more attention to how the manuals say their employees work and learn as opposed to how they actually do it. I know I have read countless employee manuals and attended I don't know how many training sessions with all of the jobs I have had, and never once did I think what I was doing was beneficial to me or my job. It was always considered by myself and my peers as a way of time and a day away from the office. There are definitely better approaches out there that could be taken in regards to working, learning and innovating.